Are you trying to fix your leaky roof yourself? It is quite a task, especially during an emergency situation. When the weather goes bad, property owners are faced with the tough decision to make emergency repairs before the problem gets worse. Repair procedures must be done safely by both professional roof repair men and non-professionals alike.

Roof Repair Procedures

There is no one solution to addressing an emergency roof repair because of the different materials used in various roofs. Here are general guidelines that you can follow whenever an emergency roof repair takes place:

The first thing you do during an emergency roof repair is protect the interior. Protect the interior of your home by using containers to collect the water dripping from the leaks on your roof. You can also use a plastic sheet to temporarily cover the leaks.

After you have patched your leaky roof temporarily, remove the excess water from your roof. Inspect your scuppers and roof drains to make sure that they are working properly. The most common cause of collapsed and leaky roofs is ponding on the roof’s surface because of clogged scuppers and drains.

Determine the exact location of the leak. To help you determine the exact location of the leak, locate the point above where the leakiest area of your home is taking place. After you have determined the location of the leak, inspect the rooftop equipment, after you have inspected the mechanical equipment, inspect the penetrations and the flashings at the terminations. If your roof and its mechanisms are ballasted with pavers or gravel, make sure to remove the ballast from the leaky area, then, inspect the membrane surface for any punctures. Lastly, inspect the seams in the roof membrane.

Now that you know where the leak is, it is time to perform the emergency repair you need. There are different types of sealing material at your disposal. Choose the best one suited for your type of roofing.

How can you seal your leaky roof?

Plastic Roofing Cement

You can use fabric, roofing felt, or plastic cement as an emergency patch for your leaky roof. You can get plastic cement in wet patch or rain patch grades, which are easier to apply on damp or wet roof surfaces. Avoid using pourable or liquid asphalt to cover the leaks on your roof. Plastic cement may work temporarily but it often deteriorates after a while.

Wood Block

Wood block is another material you can use to patch the leaks on your roof. If your roof has a puncture in the membrane or a small seam, create a small circular incision near the seam or puncture. The incision you create must be able to fit a 2”x4”x4” wood block through the hole just under the membrane. Once you have made the incisions, insert two wood blocks on top of each other through the hole. Make sure to nail or staple the wooden blocks to prevent the hole from getting bigger.

If you are like most homeowners, the thought of remodeling or improving your home has probably crossed your mind. If it were not for the expense of hiring a professional contractor and paying for a major home improvement project, you would have already had the bathroom updated or installed new wood floors.

While tearing down walls and dealing with plumbing and electrical issues are best left to the professionals, there are many things you and your spouse can do to improve the function and appearance of your home. You can find step-by-step instructions on how to paint, install a deck, lay a tile floor, or any number of other relatively simple home improvement projects. Here are some home improvement project ideas that you might want to consider.

Painting an Interior Room

If it has been 10 years since you last opened a can of paint and put a new coat of paint on your bedroom walls, it might be time to get out the brushes and rollers and freshen up the room. To do the job right, you should start by clearing out everything inside of the room you want to paint. If that is not feasible, you can just move the furniture away from the walls and cover it with some tarps. Make sure you fill in all holes and repair any blemishes before starting to paint. Next, you should tape around doorknobs, windows, and any other surfaces you want to protect from paint. The job will go quicker if you have two people working. One person – preferably, the one with the delicate touch – can cut in around the corners and edges with a brush, while the less-skilled painter covers the big areas with a paint roller. With preparation time included, an average-sized room should take less than four hours to complete.

Replacing a Kitchen Faucet

Adding a shiny, new kitchen faucet can spruce up any kitchen sink. This is not a hard job for the average homeowner. You can go down to any large home improvement store and select from dozens of different kitchen faucet assemblies. Every kit comes with instructions on how to remove the old faucet and install the new one. Remember to cut-off the water supply before you start. Then, it is a matter of disconnecting the water supply hoses (all you need is a wrench or a pair of pliers), breaking the silicon seal on the old faucet, and removing the faucet from the sink. Next, make sure you clean the area thoroughly and follow the instructions for installing the new faucet. Again, it is simply a matter of reconnecting the hot and cold water supply hoses and turning on the water supply. From start to finish, this project should take about two hours.

These are just two of the easy home improvement project ideas that will add some new life to your home. Depending on how handy and skilled you are, you could tackle more advanced projects such as building an outdoor wood deck, creating a water feature for your outdoor garden, or tearing out the carpet and replacing it with a ceramic tile floor. All it takes to make your home improvement project ideas a reality is time and effort. When you complete a project, you’ll be proud of what you accomplished!

As the cold days of winter are fast approaching, you must get your furnace and/or heater ready. A well maintained furnace will keep you warm enough to enjoy the winter. It is a must that you keep your furnace well maintained months before the winter season approaches.

Furnace Maintenance Checklist

Keeping your furnace maintained just before the winter season will keep you and your family comfortable through snow storms or colder than usual days during the winter. Here are some of the things you must do to keep your furnace in-tune during the winter:

Make sure to check and tighten gas and electrical wiring and connections so that your furnace works efficiently and perfectly during winter.

Make sure that the operational pressures are in good condition and in working order.

Check the thermostat settings of your furnace. The thermostat settings keep your home at just the right temperature whether you are at home or away. Make sure the settings are adjusted to how you want it and that it’s good enough to keep you warm.

Make sure that you clean the condenser coils to keep your furnace operating at an efficient level.

Measure the voltage and the current of the furnace and motor.

Make sure the safety switches work and are in good condition.

Make sure that the moving parts of your furnace are properly lubricated. Lack of proper lubrication causes friction among the moving parts of your furnace. Friction between the motor and moving parts of your furnace consumes more energy and electricity.

Make sure that the blower assembly is clean and in good working condition.

Condensate the drain lines of your furnace to keep it working efficiently during winter.

Make sure that the air filter is in good condition and cleaned thoroughly. If the air filter is old and broken, replace it.

Make sure that you have enough furnace filters to last the winter.

Change the filter on a monthly basis to make sure that air flows properly inside your furnace.

Changing the filters of your furnace on a regular basis helps extend its useful life.

Make sure that the area around your furnace is clean and accessible when an emergency arises.

Make sure that the batteries in the carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are still working. Regular testing prevents emergencies from occurring.

Keep the emergency number of the gas company where you purchased the furnace so that you can easily contact them when you start smelling gas coming from your furnace.

Determine the exact location of the emergency gas shutoff valve just in case you need to shut off your furnace.

These are some of the maintenance tips you must keep in mind whenever you need to use your furnace during fall and winter. Keeping the furnace in good working condition keeps you and your family warm and prevents accidents from occurring.

If you are uncomfortable maintaining or cleaning your own furnace, you can get a professional service provider to do it for you. Professionals make sure that your furnace is in good working condition for fall and winter. They will perform all of the things on the checklist above and will go the extra mile to ensure that you and your family are safe from extremely cold weather and potential accidents that may occur when your furnace malfunctions.

You can find a qualified and experience professional by searching online or get referrals from your friends and family. You can easily compare the prices and customer feedback of the service providers that are on your shortlist when you do online research. Getting the pros and cons of each of the companies that are on your shortlist will help you get good value once you have made a choice.